What Do Friends, The Omega Man and Hocus Pocus have in Common?

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Friends - Opening Credits With Cast In Front Of Fountain
Friends - In the opening credits of every episode, the cast dance and splash around in a fountain.

The Omega Man - DVD Front Cover
The Omega Man - The Apocalyptic movie adaptation of the novel "I Am Legend" where the last man alive (Robert Neville) struggles to survive against hoards of mutants.

So... What does this odd couple have in common? To answer this, we first need to establish where the Friends fountain is located. Despite popular belief, it is NOT Cherry Hill fountain located in New York's Central Park. The Friends fountain is actually situated in Burbank, California in the back lot of a studio known as the Warner Bros. Ranch.

Cherry Hill Fountain - Central Park, New York
Cherry Hill Fountain - Central Park, New York

Warner Bros. Ranch - Burbank, California
Warner Bros. Ranch - Burbank, California

Ok, all very interesting... but what does this have to do with The Omega Man?

The Omega Man - Robert Neville's House
The Omega Man - Robert Neville's House

Well, In the movie, Robert Neville (Charlton Heston) from The Omega Man resides in the house behind the fountain.

Warner Bros. Ranch - Burbank, California 2
Warner Bros. Ranch - Burbank, California

He was known to take pot shots at the mutants with a sniper rifle from the upper balcony of the house. (He probably took a few shots at the Friends cast dancing in the fountain as well...)

The Omega Man - Robert Neville With Sniper Rifle
The Omega Man - Robert Neville With Sniper Rifle

There is one strange thing that this brings up though.

The Omega Man - Robert Neville Bleeds Out In Fountain
Neville (Heston) Comes To A Bloody End

At the end of the movie The Omega Man, the head mutant throws a spear from Robert Neville's balcony and hits Robert Neville in the park across the road. Robert is mortally wounded and falls into a fountain where he bleeds out and dies.

However the fountain that he falls into isn't the one featured in Friends. It appears to be a fake movie fountain placed there for the shot which seems like a lot of effort to go to when there is already a fountain in the park...

I have a theory on this though. I am guessing that the screenplay was accepted and the film sets were chosen however when the final scenes came to be shot, it was decided that either:
  1. The fountain was too big for Robert Nevilles death to be of suitable impact and/or
  2. The spear throwing distance between the house and the fountain was not believable or realistic
So a fake smaller fountain was brought in to resolve these two issues.

The Omega Man - Robert Neville In Front Of Fake Fountain
Neville (Heston) With Fake Fountain Behind

The Friends fountain and Robert Neville's house can also be seen in the movie "Hocus Pocus". Not suprising really as it is owned by Warner Bros.

Hocus Pocus - The Friends Fountain
Hocus Pocus - The Friends Fountain

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